Which thermal compound should I buy?

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John699

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Jan 29, 2016
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So I'm having a bit of trouble here as I'm getting to choose between 2 thermal compound one being cooler master thermal compound which is white in color and the other one being a Chinese thermal compound which is grey in color.

But do know sometimes we shouldn't go behind the names as I got screwed by cooler master 120 mm which runs so slow as snail and the other Chinese one runs so freaking fast way to go....and yeah I lubricated cooler master but nop it's and stupid fan....I wonder why people get so crazy about cooler master...I'm so glad I dint go with cooler master psu cuz I'm pretty much sure the fans inside psu might be running as snail too
 
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When properly applied, most pastes are within margin of error to each other performance wise. You will get maybe two or three degrees difference at best, and likely only one or zero degree difference.

Think about what thermal paste does: It fills the microscopic gaps between the heat source and the heat sink. When applied right, there's almost nothing there. All it's for is to eliminate air pockets, which would act as insulation, and replace it with (usually) a powdered metal. The powdered metal can be copper, tin, aluminium, or silver usually. All conduct heat well, and when suspended in the oil bases used, are mostly non-electrically conductive. (Mostly, still don't want it getting on the pins, that's bad news.)

Consider this...
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Ironsounds

Ironsounds

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Jul 31, 2011
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Hello... Thermal paste can also be found locally... Radio shack, office depot, staples, Any electronics/computer supply stores.
You have to look at the Fan specs - speed-voltage-cfm-type-size to get the proper one for your needs... they are made fast and cheap, and few bad ones get through.
With thermal paste 'less is better"
 
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Grugbug

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Fan speed is not the only factor that determines how good a fan is. Blade design plays a huge role in fan efficiency.
You can have a fan that spins slow yet it moves move air than a fast spinning fan with a different blade design.

The gray color compound is metal based and has a high thermal conductivity and is also electrically conductive.
The white compound is ceramic based and is close to the thermal efficiency of the metal compound yet does not conduct electricity.
The black compounds are carbon based which have thermals on par with the metals without electrical conductivity

 
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Saberus

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When properly applied, most pastes are within margin of error to each other performance wise. You will get maybe two or three degrees difference at best, and likely only one or zero degree difference.

Think about what thermal paste does: It fills the microscopic gaps between the heat source and the heat sink. When applied right, there's almost nothing there. All it's for is to eliminate air pockets, which would act as insulation, and replace it with (usually) a powdered metal. The powdered metal can be copper, tin, aluminium, or silver usually. All conduct heat well, and when suspended in the oil bases used, are mostly non-electrically conductive. (Mostly, still don't want it getting on the pins, that's bad news.)

Consider this: Server manufacturers use the cheap stuff, even for systems running power-hungry E7 v3 chips that have 145W+ TDP. Intel and AMD both use cheap paste on their stock coolers, even for their high-end chips. Radeon cards use stock thermal paste. In each of these, the cooling solution attached is what has almost all the impact on cooling, maybe as much as 1% of the cooling performance is based on the effectiveness of the thermal compound.

There's tests online, one even from Tom's Hardware circa 2009-2010, that showed very little difference between pastes, even toothpaste worked decently until it dried out, and so did peanut butter.

Go with the paste you prefer, it's more personal preference than anything, IMO. If you like it, like the texture and the viscosity, then it's good. Apply it right, and it will do the job it was made for.
 
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Solution
Ironsounds

Ironsounds

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Hello... Yes... you need a substance that remains Moist... It is like Wood Putty is to the Wood Worker... You try to avoid using it... It's Just to fill the Gaps where "Metal to Metal" contact is not possible... Typically the mass market of "Low cost" Desktop and Gpu's had this problem, Too Much thermal Paste and it Drying up really fast in the ones I worked one.
 
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